Marlowe, Malta, Shakespeare, and Sandys.
Yogi Buchon
You asked "Why Malta?":
Is it very common for readers of The Tempest to identify the exiled
Prospero with the author of Hamlet, Macbeth, and all the other plays?
If Marlowe survived beyond 1593, then is it likely he was in exile
just like Prospero?
Are there scholars of impeccable reputation who say the setting of The
Tempest is a Mediterranean island? Is this island setting of The
Tempest somewhere between Tunis and Naples? Where is Malta in the
Mediterranean?
Does the shipwreck scene in The Tempest have any similarities to St.
Paul's shipwreck on Malta as described in Acts of the Apostles in the
New Testament? Have any scholars noted these similarities?
Did George Sandys visit Malta in June 1611? How long did he stay on
Malta? Did he meet anyone with ties to England? Does his account of
Malta in volume number four of the travelogue "A Relation of a
Journey..." have any similarities to The Tempest?
Was The Tempest first staged in November 1611? Is it a short play?
Is it possible that the writing of the play started in June 1611? Did
the visit to Malta by George Sandys inspire the play?
Is the character Ferdinand in The Tempest consistent with a depiction
of George Sandys? Is the line "Come unto these Yellow SANDS" in the
song which introduces Ferdinand to the audience a reference to SANDYS?
Does another part of this same introductory song recall GEORGE, Duke
of Clarence in Richard III?
How many Englishmen were on Malta in 1611? Is the uninhabited island
of The Tempest the author's metaphor for an island that is uninhabited
by Englishmen?
Is the relationship between Prospero and Ariel a mirror-image of the
relationship between Calypso and Ulysses? Where is Calypso's cave
located? Is the cave on a Maltese island?
Is Malta noted for its bees and its honey? Is Melita the old name for
Malta? What does Melita mean? Is the memorable line, spoken by Ariel
in the setting of The Tempest, "Where the bee sucks, there suck I"
suggestive of Malta?
Does Ariel describe the strange lights of St. Elmo's fire in The
Tempest? Was it St. Elmo's fire occurring on or near a Mediterranean
island? Was there a Fort St. Elmo on Malta at the time The Tempest
was written?
Is the reference to the game of chess in The Tempest suggestive of a
game of war on a Mediterranean island? Were the words "king" and
"queen" used in the play just prior to the mention of chess? What are
the pieces in chess called? So then, is chess in The Tempest
suggestive of knights, bishops, and castles on a Mediterranean island?
Is this suggestive of the religious Knights of Malta playing their
real-life war game on well-fortified Malta?
Is the foul-smelling, foreign-looking, gaberdine-clad Caliban
suggestive of a Jew on a Mediterranean island? Is this reminiscent of
Marlowe's Jew of Malta?
Is the father-daughter tandem of Prospero and Miranda on a
Mediterranean island reminiscent of Barabas and Abigail on Malta in
Marlowe's Jew of Malta?
Is the word "cross" used during the simultaneous wedding ceremony of
four couples in As You Like It? Is this suggestive of an
eight-pointed Maltese cross?
Was there an English merchant on Malta who was a commoner and a long
time resident around the time period 1593-1611? What was his name?
Is it likely he would need to be vouched for by Catholic nobility just
to be there?
What sort of place was Malta around the year 1600? Was it a rich and
sophisticated place? Were a lot of young noblemen from all over
Europe there? Did famous artists paint there? Did famous architects
build there? Was it a good place for an experienced dramatist to
write plays?
Assuming Marlowe survived beyond 1593, does the hypothesis of Malta as
his primary location of exile answer more questions than it poses?
How familiar was Marlowe with the island of Malta?
http://www.millersv.edu/~resound/*vol1iss2/jew_of_malta.html
http://www.millersv.edu/~resound/*vol1iss2/malta/malta9.html
http://www.millersv.edu/~resound/*vol1iss2/malta/malta_notes.html
Was there really an English merchant living on Malta around 1600?
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/7312/myear.html#y70
Truly,
Yogi Buchon
A theory about English dramatist and poet Christopher Marlowe:
1. He converted to Catholicism in 1593
after befriending Southampton.
2. He faked his death in May 1593
with Southampton and Walsingham's help.
3. He traveled through France and Italy
from June to December 1593.
4. He lived in exile on the island of Malta
from December 1593 to June 1611.
5. He worked as a merchant under the alias
"William Watts" while on Malta.
6. He wrote all of the literary work attributed to
William Shakespeare.
7. He met Thomas Lodge, Caravaggio, and George Sandys
while in exile.
8. He left Malta with George Sandys in June 1611
ending his exile there.
9. He returned to England in 1612
and lived near Canterbury until 1621.
10. He collaborated with George Sandys
but wrote no more plays after 1611.
11. He sailed to Virginia Colony with George Sandys
in July 1621.
12. He died shortly after the Indian uprising at Jamestown
on March 22, 1622.
Andrew Ness
"Yogi Buchon" <yogi...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:6b0bbc4b.02011...@posting.google.com...
> Dear tigerspirit:
>
> You asked "Why Malta?":
>
> Is it very common for readers of The Tempest to identify the exiled
> Prospero with the author of Hamlet, Macbeth, and all the other plays?
I'd say yes, to an extent.
> If Marlowe survived beyond 1593, then is it likely he was in exile
> just like Prospero?
Hardly. If Marlowe was in 'exile' it was self imposed. Apparently he was
also in regular enough communication to the homeland to be able to send them
his plays and receive news and commissions.
> Are there scholars of impeccable reputation who say the setting of The
> Tempest is a Mediterranean island?
Are there? What is their proof?
Is this island setting of The
> Tempest somewhere between Tunis and Naples? Where is Malta in the
> Mediterranean?
Get yourself an atlas.
> Does the shipwreck scene in The Tempest have any similarities to St.
> Paul's shipwreck on Malta as described in Acts of the Apostles in the
> New Testament? Have any scholars noted these similarities?
I assume so, or you wouldn't be bringing it up. Who represents St Paul in
this scenario? And who does that make Prospero?
> Did George Sandys visit Malta in June 1611? How long did he stay on
> Malta? Did he meet anyone with ties to England? Does his account of
> Malta in volume number four of the travelogue "A Relation of a
> Journey..." have any similarities to The Tempest?
Do you know how irritating this is already becoming?
> Was The Tempest first staged in November 1611? Is it a short play?
> Is it possible that the writing of the play started in June 1611? Did
> the visit to Malta by George Sandys inspire the play?
I assume what you are saying is that it could not have, given the time it
would take to compose following Sandys publication of the travelogue.
> Is the character Ferdinand in The Tempest consistent with a depiction
> of George Sandys? Is the line "Come unto these Yellow SANDS" in the
> song which introduces Ferdinand to the audience a reference to SANDYS?
Or to sand, such as one finds on the shore of an island perhaps. Does
'yellow' hold some special meaning to Sandys?
> Does another part of this same introductory song recall GEORGE, Duke
> of Clarence in Richard III?
>
> How many Englishmen were on Malta in 1611? Is the uninhabited island
> of The Tempest the author's metaphor for an island that is uninhabited
> by Englishmen?
Only the author would know that. Given his usual skill with metaphor, and
often generous view of foreigners, it seems unlikely.
> Is the relationship between Prospero and Ariel a mirror-image of the
> relationship between Calypso and Ulysses?
Calypso, enamoured of Ulysses, refuses to let him leave her island until
Zeus tells her she must.
Prospero, who finds Ariel useful and is possibly quite fond of him but
certainly not enamoured in the same way (unless I've been misreading
naively) makes an agreement to release the spirit from his service once it
has done the tasks set for it.
I see no real basis for comparison.
Where is Calypso's cave
> located? Is the cave on a Maltese island?
Do you know the answer? Is the answer yes?
> Is Malta noted for its bees and its honey? Is Melita the old name for
> Malta? What does Melita mean? Is the memorable line, spoken by Ariel
> in the setting of The Tempest, "Where the bee sucks, there suck I"
> suggestive of Malta?
Don't know what 'Melita' means, so it isn't especially suggestive to me. Or
does every reference to 'bees' in a play mean the scene is Malta?
> Does Ariel describe the strange lights of St. Elmo's fire in The
> Tempest?
He certainly seems to, yes.
> Was it St. Elmo's fire occurring on or near a Mediterranean
> island?
Rather depends where Prospero's island is, doesn't it?
> Was there a Fort St. Elmo on Malta at the time The Tempest
> was written?
>
> Is the reference to the game of chess in The Tempest suggestive of a
> game of war on a Mediterranean island?
Can you cite something more specific? Chess is always a 'game of war', its
peculiar relevance to Mediterranean islands escapes me.
> Were the words "king" and
> "queen" used in the play just prior to the mention of chess? What are
> the pieces in chess called? So then, is chess in The Tempest
> suggestive of knights, bishops, and castles on a Mediterranean island?
> Is this suggestive of the religious Knights of Malta playing their
> real-life war game on well-fortified Malta?
Is that incredibly tenuous?
> Is the foul-smelling, foreign-looking, gaberdine-clad Caliban
> suggestive of a Jew on a Mediterranean island? Is this reminiscent of
> Marlowe's Jew of Malta?
>
> Is the father-daughter tandem of Prospero and Miranda on a
> Mediterranean island reminiscent of Barabas and Abigail on Malta in
> Marlowe's Jew of Malta?
>
> Is the word "cross" used during the simultaneous wedding ceremony of
> four couples in As You Like It? Is this suggestive of an
> eight-pointed Maltese cross?
Now you're just talking gibberish. These are plays, not crossword puzzles.
> Was there an English merchant on Malta who was a commoner and a long
> time resident around the time period 1593-1611? What was his name?
> Is it likely he would need to be vouched for by Catholic nobility just
> to be there?
>
> What sort of place was Malta around the year 1600? Was it a rich and
> sophisticated place? Were a lot of young noblemen from all over
> Europe there? Did famous artists paint there? Did famous architects
> build there? Was it a good place for an experienced dramatist to
> write plays?
>
> Assuming Marlowe survived beyond 1593, does the hypothesis of Malta as
> his primary location of exile answer more questions than it poses?
Not at all. (Except for the seemingly interminable list you have just
produced yourself. We can all do that to increase the number of relevant
'questions'.)
The Tempest related issues you raise aren't 'questions' at all. You mention
nothing that does not make perfect dramatic sense within the plays as they
stand.
NSY
KQKnave
yogi...@yahoo.com (Yogi Buchon) writes:
>Is it very common for readers of The Tempest to identify the exiled
>Prospero with the author of Hamlet, Macbeth, and all the other plays?
>If Marlowe survived beyond 1593, then is it likely he was in exile
>just like Prospero?
>
>Are there scholars of impeccable reputation who say the setting of The
>Tempest is a Mediterranean island? Is this island setting of The
>Tempest somewhere between Tunis and Naples? Where is Malta in the
>Mediterranean?
Is this ridiculous bullshit just like the ridiculous bullshit that John Baker
(and his many pseudonyms) posts? Is "Yogi Buchon" really John Baker?
See for yourself that the Droeshout portrait is not unusual at all!
http://hometown.aol.com/kqknave/shakenbake.html
Agent Jim
John W. Kennedy
> > Are there scholars of impeccable reputation who say the setting of The
> > Tempest is a Mediterranean island?
>
> Are there? What is their proof?
Ummm.... At the literal level, the setting would appear to be the
Mediterranean.
> > Does the shipwreck scene in The Tempest have any similarities to St.
> > Paul's shipwreck on Malta as described in Acts of the Apostles in the
> > New Testament? Have any scholars noted these similarities?
> I assume so, or you wouldn't be bringing it up.
None that I can recall beyond the self-evident and trivial. (There was
a shipwreck. People made it safely to an island. Etc.)
> > Is Malta noted for its bees and its honey? Is Melita the old name for
> > Malta? What does Melita mean? Is the memorable line, spoken by Ariel
> > in the setting of The Tempest, "Where the bee sucks, there suck I"
> > suggestive of Malta?
>
> Don't know what 'Melita' means, so it isn't especially suggestive to me. Or
> does every reference to 'bees' in a play mean the scene is Malta?
"Melita" is indeed the old Latin name for Malta. It also means
"sea-nymph". I suppose he's trying to make some kind of play on words
with "mel", "honey".
--
John W. Kennedy
"Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers"
Coming to the Sci-Fi Channel in the USA, January 19, 2002
Greg Reynolds
Yogi Buchon wrote:
> Dear tigerspirit:
>
> You asked "Why Malta?":
>
> Is it very common for readers of The Tempest to identify the exiled
> Prospero with the author of Hamlet, Macbeth, and all the other plays?
> If Marlowe survived beyond 1593, then is it likely he was in exile
> just like Prospero?
That would dismantle Marlovianism as we know it.
The plays were hitting the stage and the court in the 90s.
They weren't lost somewhere at sea.
> Are there scholars of impeccable reputation who say the setting of The
> Tempest is a Mediterranean island? Is this island setting of The
> Tempest somewhere between Tunis and Naples?
Lampedusa, north of Africa.
> Where is Malta in the
> Mediterranean?
Oh, it's in there.
(Snipped unanswerables to quicken the pace and
make the newsgroup snappy.)
> Truly,
> Yogi Buchon
Hi, John, I thought you were mountainclimbing.
> A theory about English dramatist and poet Christopher Marlowe:
> 1. He converted to Catholicism in 1593
> after befriending Southampton.
> 2. He faked his death in May 1593
> with Southampton and Walsingham's help.
> 3. He traveled through France and Italy
> from June to December 1593.
> 4. He lived in exile on the island of Malta
> from December 1593 to June 1611.
Whoa! He's either in exile or delivering plays.
Please consult your ouija board of directors.
Greg Reynolds
(snipped rest and never looked back)
Christian Lanciai
I'll just put in a NO where it is needed.
yogi...@yahoo.com (Yogi Buchon) wrote in message news:<6b0bbc4b.02011...@posting.google.com>...
NO
> 2. He faked his death in May 1593
> with Southampton and Walsingham's help.
> 3. He traveled through France and Italy
> from June to December 1593.
> 4. He lived in exile on the island of Malta
> from December 1593 to June 1611.
NO. If he was guilty of all the Shakespeare works he could not have
stayed on Malta that long. Even John Baker puts him in Valladolid long
before 1611, and there is all but conclusive evidence that he was back
in London in 1601. On Malta he would have found poor inspiration for
the Shakespeare universal works - no green nature, no library, no
culture, nothing but white desert rocks. He couldn't have stood it for
long, if he was there at all. But the Caravaggio connection is
interesting, Caravaggio being a rather typical Marlowe character. I
would like to believe that they met - they would have understood each
other well, like van Gogh and Gaughin, - or rather like two van Goghs.
> 5. He worked as a merchant under the alias
> "William Watts" while on Malta.
> 6. He wrote all of the literary work attributed to
> William Shakespeare.
> 7. He met Thomas Lodge, Caravaggio, and George Sandys
> while in exile.
> 8. He left Malta with George Sandys in June 1611
> ending his exile there.
NO. He must have left long before that.
> 9. He returned to England in 1612
> and lived near Canterbury until 1621.
NO. He returned to England in 1600.
> 10. He collaborated with George Sandys
> but wrote no more plays after 1611.
He could have written any amount of plays after 1611, collaborating
with Beaumont&Fletcher, Webster, Heywood and others.
> 11. He sailed to Virginia Colony with George Sandys
> in July 1621.
> 12. He died shortly after the Indian uprising at Jamestown
> on March 22, 1622.
NO: It is just as probable that he stayed on in England to elaborate
the massive old man's work "The Anatomy of Melancholy" with some
assistance by Robert Burton.
Chris
Yogi Buchon
I'm sorry, but one of the links in the original version of this post
didn't work. It's the first of the four links. I think it's fixed in
the text below.
You asked "Why Malta?":
http://www.millersv.edu/~resound/*vol1iss2/malta/jew_of_malta.html
http://www.millersv.edu/~resound/*vol1iss2/malta/malta9.html
http://www.millersv.edu/~resound/*vol1iss2/malta/malta_notes.html
Was there really an English merchant living on Malta around 1600?
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/7312/myear.html#y70
Truly,
Yogi Buchon
A theory about English dramatist and poet Christopher Marlowe:
1. He converted to Catholicism in 1593
after befriending Southampton.
2. He faked his death in May 1593
with Southampton and Walsingham's help.
3. He traveled through France and Italy
from June to December 1593.
4. He lived in exile on the island of Malta
from December 1593 to June 1611.
5. He worked as a merchant under the alias
"William Watts" while on Malta.
6. He wrote all of the literary work attributed to
William Shakespeare.
7. He met Thomas Lodge, Caravaggio, and George Sandys
while in exile.
8. He left Malta with George Sandys in June 1611
ending his exile there.
9. He returned to England in 1612
and lived near Canterbury until 1621.
10. He collaborated with George Sandys
but wrote no more plays after 1611.
Yogi Buchon
>
> Is this ridiculous bullshit just like the ridiculous bullshit that John Baker
> (and his many pseudonyms) posts? Is "Yogi Buchon" really John Baker?
>
Dear Agent Jim:
Whatever you think of my posts Agent Jim, so be it. But, aren't you
betraying your anger and intolerance with your choice of words? What
is making you so angry? Anger tends to interfere with logical
reasoning, does it not?
Have you read the "Google Groups - Posting Style Guide"? The very
first item on the list of do's and don'ts is:
"Never forget that the person on the other side is human."
Do you care about such guidelines? Is there some some issue which
means more to you than acting and responding with civility and
dignity. Where did I insult you or anyone in my series of questions
to tigerspirit?
Am I really John Baker? Why is that important? Who is Agent Jim?
Who is KQKnave? Are you hiding behind some pseudonym yourself?
Truly,
Yogi Buchon
KQKnave
>Dear Agent Jim:
>
>Whatever you think of my posts Agent Jim, so be it. But, aren't you
>betraying your anger and intolerance with your choice of words? What
>is making you so angry? Anger tends to interfere with logical
>reasoning, does it not?
>
>Have you read the "Google Groups - Posting Style Guide"? The very
>first item on the list of do's and don'ts is:
>
>"Never forget that the person on the other side is human."
In this case, the person on the other side is an annoying nut.
>
>Do you care about such guidelines? Is there some some issue which
>means more to you than acting and responding with civility and
>dignity. Where did I insult you or anyone in my series of questions
>to tigerspirit?
>
>Am I really John Baker? Why is that important? Who is Agent Jim?
>Who is KQKnave? Are you hiding behind some pseudonym yourself?
I think it's obvious that I'm hiding behind a pseudonym. But it's only one,
so if you want to avoid seeing my messages, you can just filter me. Unlike
nuts like you, who post under multiple pseudonyms that change, thus
forcing all the normal people to, at the least, do the work to delete the
multiple postings.
john_baker
A good post this.
I point out that Othello sets mainly in Malta....
john
John Baker
Visit my Webpage:
http://www2.localaccess.com/marlowe
or e-mail me at: Mar...@localaccess.com
"The ultimate truth is penultimately always a falsehood.
He who will be proved right in the end appears to be
wrong and harmful before it."
_Darkness at Noon_, Arthur Koestler
john_baker
Shit!! Here you are calling yourself "Agent Jim" and kqknave!!!
aren't those nom de plumes!!!
What jerk!
I don't know who this guy is, but he's not me. ALL of my posts
have my name at the bottom. I have and will continue to us
nom de plumes in the from line when I want to be funny!!
So what? But they all say John Baker at the bottom.
But then Agent Jim is nuts and thinks I'm this guy and all those
others too...must be funny in there Jim...
Cheers!
john_baker
We do have reason to suppose he was here (in Va.) with Thomas Harris
on the college lands. We find him under the name Thomas Morley...what
put you on to this?
You can e-mail me at Mar...@localaccess.com
I don't suppose he died here.
The registation of JM is to his classmate Thomas Harris in 1633....it
has to be him. His last
work appears on the right day in 1654...the year he would
have turned 90...I think that was the end...
john
Christian Lanciai
Don't let Jim grate on your nerves, Yogi. He suffers from that HLAS
paranoia that he sees one and the same enemy in every single published
idea that goes against any of his own. It's a common disease here.
Even sane Stratfordians have reacted to paranoid Stratfordians like
you did and left as a result. The trick is: Just hold on and endure.
It's their problem and disease, not yours.
Chris
Andrew Ness
"John W. Kennedy" <jwk...@attglobal.net> wrote in message
news:3C44CDC4...@attglobal.net...
> Andrew Ness wrote:
> > > Are there scholars of impeccable reputation who say the setting of The
> > > Tempest is a Mediterranean island?
> >
> > Are there? What is their proof?
>
> Ummm.... At the literal level, the setting would appear to be the
> Mediterranean.
Prospero- Duke of Milan - Italy - Med...
(Click! Light comes on...) oh yes.
NSY
Yogi Buchon
> > Are there scholars of impeccable reputation who say the setting of The
> > Tempest is a Mediterranean island?
>
> Are there? What is their proof?
>
> > Is this island setting of The Tempest somewhere between Tunis and Naples? > > Where is Malta in the Mediterranean?
>
> Get yourself an atlas.
>
Dear Andrew Ness:
Your reputation as a knowledgeable Shakespearean is tarnished
everytime someone has to spoon-feed you the opinions of well-known
scholars such as Northrop Frye and Stephen Greenblatt. I hope readers
of HLAS discount your future criticisms accordingly.
"The scene of the play, an island somewhere between Tunis and Naples,
suggests the journey of Aeneas from Carthage to Rome"
Northrop Frye, Introduction to The Tempest, William Shakespeare: The
Complete Works, Gen. Ed. Alfred Harbage, page 1371.
"Prospero's island is evidently in the Mediterranean, and the New
World is only mentioned as a far-off place"
Stephen Greenblatt, Introduction to The Tempest, The Norton
Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition, Gen. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt.
Are these scholars impeccable enough for the all-knowledgeable Andrew
Ness? Maybe you could write to Professor Greenblatt and ask him for
his proof that Prospero's island is in the Mediterranean. I'm sure
he'll treat you with all the respect you so rightly deserve.
Poor me, I don't have an atlas! So, Malta is not directly on a line
between Tunis and Naples? Gosh, do you think it's possible a tempest
could have blown the king's ship off course a little bit? Could you
please get your atlas out and check to see whether this is possible?
I've read that scholars have proposed Lampedusa and Pantalaria as
candidates for the island setting of The Tempest. Are they on a
direct line between Tunis and Naples? I don't have an atlas. Could
you please check this on your atlas too? In return, I'll be happy to
spoon-feed you the scholars who have proposed Lampedusa and
Pantalaria.
Yogi Buchon
> Andrew Ness wrote:
>
[snip]
>
> > > Is Malta noted for its bees and its honey? Is Melita the old name for
> > > Malta? What does Melita mean? Is the memorable line, spoken by Ariel
> > > in the setting of The Tempest, "Where the bee sucks, there suck I"
> > > suggestive of Malta?
> >
> > Don't know what 'Melita' means, so it isn't especially suggestive to me. Or
> > does every reference to 'bees' in a play mean the scene is Malta?
>
> "Melita" is indeed the old Latin name for Malta. It also means
> "sea-nymph". I suppose he's trying to make some kind of play on words
> with "mel", "honey".
Here are some references:
----------
http://www.geocities.com/maltabee01/history.html
"The name of Malta is said to be a corruption of Melita, so called by
the Greeks on account of the honey produced there."
E.W. Schermerhorn, Malta of the Knights, note on page 32.
"In Malta, shade is at a premium, but there is always this gentle,
carressing Mediterranean breeze dusting the cheek with its prevailing
fragrance of fennel and wild thyme. And always, borne on these
fragrant breezes, the incessant 'murmuring of innumerable bees'--those
small, dark bees from whose honey, some say, came the island's earlier
name, Melita."
Garry Hogg, Malta: Blue-Water Island, page 21.
----------
If Ariel spoke his "bee sucks"-line from France or Italy or England,
then it would not be suggestive of Malta. A reference to bees does
not automatically suggest Malta. However, Ariel does indeed speak his
line from a Mediterranean island somewhere in the general vicinity
between Tunis and Naples. Hence, the line carries with it the
suggestion of Malta.
Andrew Ness
>
> > > Are there scholars of impeccable reputation who say the setting of The
> > > Tempest is a Mediterranean island?
> >
> > Are there? What is their proof?
> >
> > > Is this island setting of The Tempest somewhere between Tunis and
Naples? > > Where is Malta in the Mediterranean?
> >
> > Get yourself an atlas.
> >
>
> Dear Andrew Ness:
>
> Your reputation as a knowledgeable Shakespearean is tarnished
> everytime someone has to spoon-feed you the opinions of well-known
> scholars such as Northrop Frye and Stephen Greenblatt. I hope readers
> of HLAS discount your future criticisms accordingly.
I have never claimed to be a knowledgeable Shakespearean. Where did you get
the impression that I was?
My 'criticisms', such as they are (and I make no claim that any of them are
in any way spectacular) tend to point out what I see as weakness in the
logic or structure of people's arguments. This needs no specialist
knowledge. (Anyone wishing to exclude my messages need only use the filters
on their newsreader since I only post under my own name.)
The above was designed to irritate you out of your patronising manner by
assuming the sort of ignorance that you seemed to assume your readership
had.
I see it worked.
On the other hand, I don't see why it is fine for you to post an endless
list of meaningless (presumably rhetorical) questions, but when I ask
something fairly straightforward this is frowned upon.
Please elaborate. On second thoughts, don't bother.
> "The scene of the play, an island somewhere between Tunis and Naples,
> suggests the journey of Aeneas from Carthage to Rome"
> Northrop Frye, Introduction to The Tempest, William Shakespeare: The
> Complete Works, Gen. Ed. Alfred Harbage, page 1371.
>
> "Prospero's island is evidently in the Mediterranean, and the New
> World is only mentioned as a far-off place"
> Stephen Greenblatt, Introduction to The Tempest, The Norton
> Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition, Gen. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt.
>
> Are these scholars impeccable enough for the all-knowledgeable Andrew
> Ness? Maybe you could write to Professor Greenblatt and ask him for
> his proof that Prospero's island is in the Mediterranean. I'm sure
> he'll treat you with all the respect you so rightly deserve.
Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. Your comments are
thoughtful and show you to be a truly wonderful human being.
> Poor me, I don't have an atlas! So, Malta is not directly on a line
> between Tunis and Naples? Gosh, do you think it's possible a tempest
> could have blown the king's ship off course a little bit? Could you
> please get your atlas out and check to see whether this is possible?
> I've read that scholars have proposed Lampedusa and Pantalaria as
> candidates for the island setting of The Tempest. Are they on a
> direct line between Tunis and Naples? I don't have an atlas. Could
> you please check this on your atlas too? In return, I'll be happy to
> spoon-feed you the scholars who have proposed Lampedusa and
> Pantalaria.
Wind your neck in. I made no claim that the Tempest was not set in the Med.
May I suggest before indulging in further literary studies you first learn
to read?
You asked where something was, I suggested you get an atlas.
I asked which scholars said the Tempest was set in the Med and you provided
me with answers. This is called 'communication' and I managed my part
without the little tantrum. Now off to bed with you...
NSY